Hotel chic

Let's make it official: 2009 was the Year of the Boutique Hotel Restaurant. Not only did they open in unusual numbers, but most of them exceeded our expectations. After so many impressive debuts (the Wit's Cibo Matto, Hotel Felix's Elate, the Raffaello's Pelago), the final pair to open, Ria and Balsan in Elysian Hotel, had a lot to live up to.

The Elysian, which managed to build an almost undue amount of suspense by delaying its opening for months on end, sets expectations high. The place is a spectacle designed to evoke the grandeur of Europe in the early 20th century and the opulent wealth of, well, a time that's not now. Though Balsan is the more casual of the Gold Coast hotel's two restaurants, it's plenty fashionable -- as should any restaurant that touts decor inspired by Coco Chanel and a name that nods to Chanel's friend, Etienne Balsan, who financed her first hat shop.

But beyond the polished marble tabletops and servers that dote on your every move is surprisingly unfussy food. A French-influenced brunch menu encourages indulgence -- we suggest a multi-course approach -- but remains quite restrained.

Though starters include buttery croissants and a decadent sticky bun ($5) presented tableside from an individual cast-iron baker, you'd do well to choose the salad of cured sea trout ($12, above), caught in a tangle of greens with a hard-poached egg and pickled tropea onions. It's topped with a crunchy potato rosti and a dollop of creme fraiche bejeweled with smoked trout roe, all combined for a lithe symphony of fatty, salty and sour.

Brioche french toast ($14), topped with dabs of honeycomb and generous rounds of citrus zest-flecked mascarpone, was pretty but soggy; we wished we'd listened to our server when she suggested the breakfast sandwich with chorizo, fried egg, goat cheese and sweet peppers ($15). Conveniently, the best dish we tried was large enough to share: the classic French tarte flambee ($16), a pizza-like round topped with bacon, onion and fried eggs and fired in a wood-burning oven until the dough is crisp enough to stand up to its gooey cheese and rich egg yolk toppings. Worth the wait? Absolutely.

Balsan

11 E. Walton St.312-646-1400

(3 out of 4 eggs)

Loved it: Fresh-squeezed OJ

Hated it: 18 percent gratuity included (as a matter of principle, that is -- we intended to leave at least that much)